Spanaway Area Fishing

[Dancpu]

I have a Sea Eagle 6 raft. Oar powered at the moment..

I am looking to fish a few of the smaller lakes... Kapowsin, Rapjohn , Spanaway .. open to suggestions. I do have tackle and poles. I do have Life Jackets..

Crappie, Trout, Bass fishing

[JAYDOG]

S.E. corner of Spanaway is usually productive for me about 75-100 ft off shore for Triploids. Set up I use is slip sinker with 3-5 ft leader with floating bait( i.e. power eggs). If that's slow then I'll pitch rooster tails. Have also had success trolling E. side of lake from boathouse dock working S. with light pop gear and criplure. Good luck!

[Dancpu]

TY...

I hope to check out Spanaway tomorrow

[kevinb]

My opinion is bias but I love Kapowsin. It has to be one of the best warmwater fisheries in the area. Excellent crappie, decent perch and huge largemouth bass roaming the waters. The only drawback on the lmb is way to many bass in the half pound-1 pound bracket. So you might have to catch several smaller ones before hooking a quality bass. I by know means am an expert on bass fishing but I've had my best results tossing a white spinnerbait with willow nickel blades. A Texas rigged Senko has also had good results. Kapowsin has plenty of great areas, cover galore, 95% is in the form of downed timber/stumps. If you're unfamiliar with the lake, just use caution as their are stumps everywhere and after a strong breeze or storm, many logs breakaway from the shoreline and drift in the lake. In the evening the lake seems to come alive with surface activity. Topwaters such as poppers have done well for me. I rarely target trout but I often chat with others on the water and most seem to mention trolling wedding rings or small spinners.

That general area has some pretty good waters with Ohop, Whitman, Byron, Rapjohn, Tanwax etc. Tanwax is another excellent fishery but I'm not as familiar with it as Kapowsin. In the mid to late 90's as I recall, this was known for being the best local producer of large crappie. In more recent years the quality has dipped a bit but quality slabs are still there, I just can't ever seem to find them. We've done well using Roadrunner jigs on various colors.

[Dancpu]

i appreciate the advice ... sounds like solid information as I also heard about the Wedding rings used with success ... I have took my raft out a few times.. Mineral lake and Rapjohn produced trout... Mineral caught my limit early on opening day... Rapjohn only left with one but was just an evening out with my wife... We went to Kapowsin but fell short of any bites on a late evening with overcast skies ...

[kevinb]

Some other lakes that might be of interest, Silver and Harts.
Maybe a couple extra minutes of drive time but the Lacey and Yelm area have several quality options like Lawrence, Offut and another favorite lmb lake of mine, McIntosh. Plenty of choices around there.

[Jmac]

Does anyone know if Erickson Boat rentals is still open?

[JAYDOG]

Looked to be closed up when I drove by memorial weekend.

[cbarlow253]

Does anyone know if Erickson Boat rentals is still open?

Towards the end of summer last year when I Was fishing down that way there was several guys working on the boat house at Erickson's. Its possible they are just closed for some construction. Although now that I think about it I haven't seen any of his boats on the lake this year ive been out there a few times.

[kevinb]

Erickson's Boats is gone. The family sold to a gentleman this last August. It had been on the market for the past 2 years or so but no serious takers. Finally a legitimate buyer arrived. Now it's a private residence. Pretty nice deal if you're the new homeowner considering you're the only house on a 500+ acre lake primed with bass and a healthy trout stocking effort. Certainly going to miss that place as they allowed me to moor my little 12 foot and the Tracker there many times. Also have to give them a ton of credit for assisting the Pierce County Sheriffs Office and Graham Fire & Rescue on multiple emergencies on the lake. Not to mention the boaters with battery issues.